


Facts and Figures, Bits and Scraps

by DaddyFuckinLongLegs



Category: Fallout 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-16 19:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21276533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaddyFuckinLongLegs/pseuds/DaddyFuckinLongLegs
Summary: Some pieces that I put on tumblr for character building but haven't put into any particular place yet. Not smut.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper follows up her earlier interview with Nate.
> 
> Started as an "OC Interview" meme, but where's the fun in that?

Nate ducked through the doorway, shaking the dirt from his shoes before stepping inside. Piper grinned and gestured to the chair opposite her, and untucked a small, stubby pencil from behind her ear.  
  
"Thanks for doing this, Blue. I'm sure they'll get sick of hearing about you soon enough, but for now, we gotta give the people what they want."  
  
Nate nodded, settling quietly into the chair, the leather of his jacket creaking as he lowered himself down. He hitched up his trousers at the knee, sniffed, cleared his throat. Piper smiled at him, and nodded to the table next to him.  
  
“There's a beer, if you want it. Help you relax a little.”  
  
Nate raised an eyebrow.  
  
“You tryin' to get me drunk, Wright? Liquor me up and hope I spill something good? Not very ethical.”  
  
He smiled, a little curl at the corner of his mouth, and Piper looked alarmed.  
  
“Oh, no! No, nothing like, that, I mean, there's... there's some water too, just, y'know, thought...”

She cleared her throat nervously.  
  
“Shall we get started?”  
  
She regained her composure, pulling up a chair in front of Nate, backward, and leaning her notepad on the back of it, legs straddling the seat.  
  
“So, first up, tell us some basics; what's your full name?”  
  
“Uhm, Nathan Christopher Stahl.”  
  
“Mmhmm, and how old are you?”  
  
Nate shrugged, that little smile playing at his mouth.  
  
“Old enough to know better? I dunno, I was thirty-seven when the bombs dropped. So, give or take 200 years...”  
  
Piper flashed him a small smile.  
  
“Okay, give the readers some idea of what you look like; defining features, as you see them, what do people notice about you first?”  
  
Nate shuffled, leaning his elbows on his knees.  
  
“Uhhh, I dunno, I'm...tall, sorta gangly? Black hair, sideburns. My... my nose is kinda...” He pressed his finger to the tip, pushing it up and exaggerating his nostrils. They both laughed, and he looked away to the ceiling.  
  
“What is this, anyway, a personal ad? You tell 'em what I look like.”  
  
“Oh don't worry, I intend to.” She laughed. He winked at her, and she dropped her eyes to the notepad, blushing slightly. Dammit he made her nervous.  
  
“Okay, so tell us a bit about where you're from? You a Boston native, or...”  
  
He nodded.  
  
“I was. Been here my whole life, except for, y'know, deployment. I grew up pretty near where Goodneighbor is, right by the Common. Moved over to Newton when I was about eight, nine. It was a nice place.”  
  
Piper nodded enthusiastically. “I bet it was! Things must be so different now... What was it like, growing up before the war? Can you tell us a little bit about you as a kid, what kind of things you'd get up to?”  
  
Nate sat back on the sofa, slinging his arm across the back.  
  
“Well, my dad wasn't around so much, he was a SEAL, so he - a SEAL was like a really, uh, highly trained soldier, best of the best – so he wasn't around all that much, me and my mom used to spend most of our weekends with my Grandpa, over in Roslindale. He was a good guy, let me pretty much do what I wanted to do, helped me build campfires and we used to go fishing sometimes. I never had the patience for fishing, so it always turned into a sorta... life lessons in a boat. Let me have a beer, smoke a cigarette, talked to me about girls, y'know, the stuff your parents wouldn't like. My mom found out once, when I came home with beer spilled all across my pants, and boy she was mad. He was, uh, sneakier, after that. I got a lot of good memories with him.”  
  
“My mom, well, she had a temper, but she always did her best. I think all the time alone must have really gotten to her, especially with me, being a mischievous little bastard so much of the time. I didn't exactly make it easy for her, but I think she was dealing with more than I really understood, at the time. My dad...”  
  
He paused, cleared his throat.  
  
“My dad and I never saw eye to eye.”  
  
Piper let him sit a moment, just in case he'd pick up the thread, but he stayed silent, looking off into the corner of the room, over his shoulder. He turned back to face her.  
  
“What's next?”  
  
Piper nodded, licked her thumb and flicked the pages of her notepad.  
  
“Uhm... lemme see. Why don't you tell us a little more about your association with the Minutemen? Rumour has it you've been promoted.”  
  
Nate laughed.  
  
“Nice to hear the Boston rumour mill is still in tip top condition. Yeah, I've been... requested to take on a more directorial role. The Minutmen are certainly growing again, there's more and more settlements being established as a network across the commonwealth, more and more people signing up to watch each others' backs and have more folks to rely on in a crisis. Lieutenant Garvey has been hard at work, rebuilding the Castle and the ranks are looking stronger than ever, even got a team modding power armour.”  
  
He smiled, leaning forward.  
  
“For any raiders out there reading this, that's a real gentle way of saying _don't fuck with us.”  
_  
Piper grinned.  
  
“Might have to censor that one, Blue. Don't want to offend the delicate sensibilities of the commonwealth's finest, y'understand. What about the Institute? There's some, uh, talk that you've been inside, some questions about who you're working with?”  
  
Nate sucked his teeth, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.  
  
“I'm not in a position to address that.”  
  
He leaned forward. “Between you and me, my Geiger counter is in the shop, and this is a bigger shit show than anyone thought. You can say I avoided the question, say I said no, whatever. I can't talk about it.”  
  
She wriggled in her seat, flipping a fresh page, her eyes flashing inquisitively.  
  
“Okay, gotcha. So... back to Lieutenant Garvey, he's one of the people you're often seen travelling with, and you two seem to have a pretty good chemistry. Is he a squeeze, or is it purely professional?”  
  
Nate rolled his eyes.  
  
“Wright, this is gossip mag territory. I thought you were better than that.”  
  
She shrugged, her cheeks colouring a little.  
  
“Hey, not my fault, the people wanna know.”  
  
Nate sighed.  
  
“No, he's not a “squeeze”. We're close, for sure, he's someone I trust, and we've saved each other's asses plenty of times. But the same goes for Nick, and for Bobby MacCr- sorry, _RJ _MacCready. Honestly, Valentine is... I don't think I'd have made it without him. He really kept me in line when I was trying to go off the rails. I owe him a lot.”  
  
Piper smiled sincerely.  
  
“Yeah, Nicky's a real good guy. Lotta heart, for a synthetic man, huh?”  
  
He nodded. Piper took a deep breath.  
  
“So, to press the question a little, _is_ there anyone you're involved with, currently? _Romantically _involved with?”  
  
Nate chuckled under his breath.  
  
“Not exactly. There's... I've got, shall we say, interests.”  
  
“C'mon Blue, spill it.” She prodded. “Give us lonely commonwealth folks some hope.”  
  
He laughed.  
  
“Well, there's... a little guy, from out of town, he knows who he is. And, well, Diamond city certainly has it's fair share of pretty girls. Pretty girls with plenty of attitude, girls that make the authorities a little uncomfortable. I'm a sucker for a girl who knows how to get what she wants.”  
  
He met her eyes, and Piper's stomach leapt. _He's kidding, he's just a goddamn flirt. _  
_  
“Okay, _so to move on... Enemies. You gotta have a fair few of them, being in your position?”  
  
Nate nodded, drawing his lips tight.  
  
“Yeah, unfortunately. The gunners, predictably, are not exactly looking to pat me on the back. The Brotherhood, we don't see eye to eye either, I blew them off a while back and they're not exactly pleased that we're establishing a force of our own with the Minutemen. I spent enough time taking orders before the bombs, I'm really not looking to join up again. I've seen enough combat on other people's terms.”  
  
“Do you _enjoy _the fighting? What's the wildest combat story you've got for us? Spin us a yarn.”  
  
Nate considered, tugging a cigarette from his pocket.  
  
“Well, there's... Do you mind?”  
  
He gestured at the cigarette, Piper shook her head. He lit up.  
  
“There's a few, to be honest, taking out a deathclaw inside a museum, that was a traumatising experience. That's where, y'see the scar here?” He tapped beneath his right eye. “Those things are lethal, even when you're out of arms reach. Threw a big fucking chunk of ceiling tile at me, busted my nose pretty good, but made it out alive.  
  
Piper whistled.  
  
“Lucky.”  
  
Nate shook his head. “Nah, I don't believe in luck. I'm just grateful MacCready managed to do more than just shit his pants. Can't blame him.”  
  
He inhaled and blew the smoke away quickly.  
  
“Don't print that, he'll kill me. There was the Castle, too. Big bastard mirelurk, Garvey said it was a Queen, that was a close call. If I live my whole life and never have to smell another...”  
  
He shuddered, Piper laughed.  
  
“Not a fan of the aquatic life then?”  
  
“Not particularly. Bloodbugs though, they're the... fuck those things. Can't stand them. Bloatflies too, disgusting.”  
  
“Any critters you don't hate?” She smiled.  
  
“Plenty. From a distance, Yao Guai are some majestic looking things, aren't they? And mole rats, when they're just going about their business...”  
  
He held his hands up like paws and stuck his teeth out, imitating the rats' snuffling sound, and Piper laughed out loud. He grinned, and took another drag.  
  
“I don't know about you, I've got a bit of a soft spot for them. And, maybe this is pre-war hangover, but protectrons, y'know, I kinda love the big stupid things. I used to work for RobCo, before I was in the Navy, and I always liked 'em the best.”  
  
Piper sat forward.  
  
“Used to work for RobCo? So you're a bit of a whizz with electronics huh?”  
  
Nate shook his head, sucking the cigarette.  
  
“Not really. I was sales, I can do a bit of maintenance, and shut things down in a pinch, but I never had the flair for that stuff. My speciality was convincing people to buy stuff.”  
  
“Ahh, more of a sweet talker, huh?”  
  
“Takes one to know one, sugar.” He winked. “Yeah, I've always been more a lover than a fighter, and my mouth has gotten me into, and out of, plenty of trouble. Good with my hands, too, for what it's worth.”  
  
He flicked his eyebrows in a quick arc, a half smile curling the corner of his mouth. Piper blushed again, laughing.  
  
“I can see why. You're a _rogue, _aren't you? What other tricks have you got up your sleeve?”  
  
“Well, I'm not a bad swimmer, my aim's pretty good, I'm pretty light on my feet, make a good steak.” he laughed. “And I might not be a brute-force kinda guy, but I can hold my own.”  
  
Piper nodded.  
  
“And how was it, adjusting to the world out here? The radiation? You must've been pretty shocked at the mutants, and ghouls...”  
  
Nate nodded.  
  
“For sure, it was a shock. Coming out of the vault was... I was already in a bad place, freezing and alone and... y'know, everything. When I got up to the surface, I just... my knees just went out, and honestly, I sat and cried, I don't know how long.”  
  
He stubbed out his cigarette.  
  
“The next... I dunno, month or two, it was hard. Even just getting up, just walking around, it felt like all my bones were made of lead, my head full of water, y'know? I made it to Goodneighbor, but I was so sick, all the food I'd been scavving was poisoning me, and I didn't know what the hell was happening. John – Mayor Hancock – got Amari to fix me up, but we, uh... he and I had some pretty serious misunderstandings back then, so I didn't stick around to rest like I was supposed to. Nick really looked out for me around then, but... in the midst of it all he ended up being out of action, and Mayor Hancock ended up trekking into the glowing sea with me.”  
  
Piper's face dropped.  
  
“I know. Crazy. Trust me, it was more crazy than it sounds. But he kept me alive, and we held up pretty well considering. I've never seen one man soak up so many chems before, but then, I wasn't far behind.”  
  
Piper tilted her head quizzically.  
  
“Are you a fan of... recreational substances, then?”  
  
Nate looked at the ceiling and chewed his lip.  
  
“Uhhh, I dunno, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship there. I've... been known to enjoy myself at a party, in the past, y'know, before the bombs. Sometimes a little too much. But things are different out here, and some can really change the tide of a fight. I'm not saying you _should, _I'm saying it's an option, in a pinch.”  
  
Piper nodded.  
  
“D'you ever think about life before the war?”  
  
“All the time. All the time. So many places here have bits of my life attached, sometimes it's like a little niggle in my stomach - “gee, I could really go for an ice cream right now!” - other times it's like the floor falling out under you.”  
  
She sidestepped the obvious sore point, instead asking;  
  
“What's ice cream?”  
  
Nate furrowed his brow.  
  
“It was... so it's milk, like a thick cream, and they froze it, but not like a block of ice, it was... it was more like snow, I guess, like thick, sugary snow. All different flavours, you put it on a... a kinda waffle cone, and it just melted in your mouth, or you could put it in a soda and...”  
  
He paused, laughing.  
  
“It's a lot harder to explain than I thought. But you'd have liked it. Sometimes couples went out for ice cream, like on a date, before a movie or something. I bet you'd have liked that too. I might even have offered to take you.”  
  
She laughed, smiling wistfully, eyes bright.  
  
“Sounds... tasty. You a soda kind of guy? I can't get enough of the stuff.”  
  
“Well, I wasn't,” he gestured, “before the war. But the fact that Nuka Cola is practically the same as it was then... it blows my mind, and it's a nice little slice of memory. I heard some people are trying to find the formula, want to get the bottling plant up and running again. How's that for an achievement?”  
  
He laughed, and Piper wanted to reach out and touch him, smooth her fingers across the little lines at the corners of his eyes, put her hand on his chest and feel his voice under her palm...  
  
She smiled at him.  
  
“Speaking of achievements, what would you say is the biggest one for you?”  
  
“Uhh, not being dead yet? I dunno, helping Preston re-establish the Minutemen is... it's a huge thing, and I wouldn't take credit for it all, but joining them, really making things better for people and really... instigating change. That's something I've always wanted. I'm glad to be a part of it.”  
  
Piper nodded, scribbling frantically.  
  
“Any regrets?”  
  
Nate swept his hand through his hair, looking away again.  
  
“I dunno, that's a big question. Yeah. I have some. I can't really say more. Sorry.”  
  
“That's okay. Would... would you say you have goals?” She leaned forward. “Things you've learned from those regrets? What do you want, what're you working towards for the future?”  
  
He rubbed the corners of his mouth and thought for a moment.  
  
“I... guess I want to make a home again. Not just for myself, but for... for everyone out here. Just to make people feel safe, to bring a little bit of the lightness that life used to have. To give people back that... hope.”  
  
He looked at Piper, his eyes flicking from deep thought to a mischievous gleam.  
  
“Short term, I'd like that beer, and maybe to get laid. I dunno if you want to publish that though.”  
  
She laughed, closing her notebook and hopping to her feet.  
  
“I think that's the perfect ending; giving the people hope, just like you said.”  
  
She stepped close to him, extending her hand, and he shook it warmly.  
  
“Thanks for being such a good sport, Blue. And... if you ever want to hit the road with someone, you just remember where to find me, 'kay? I'm always on the prowl for a new story, and you seem to just... scoop 'em up, by accident. I think it'd be a lot of fun, travelling with you, and I'm not too terrible with a pistol either. You gimme a shout, y'hear?”  
  
He stood, tugging his jacket down over his stomach, and nodded, smiling.  
  
“I'll be sure to do that.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bickering before Bunker Hill

MacCready sighed.  
  
“Why not furnish 'em with a couple minuteman uniforms, Nate just marches them into his place in the jewel, no one's the wiser, then we march 'em out again with muskets and send them on.”  
  
“It's not a simple as that.” Deacon sounded sombre. “There's evidence that Mayor McDonough is working with the Institute. John is prepping what he can in Goodneighbor, as a layover, before the safehouse up north, but bringing them any closer to Diamond City is too risky.”  
  
MacCready laughed and turned away.   
  
"I think I read about that somewhere, some gossip rag or something. McDonough a synth. Sounded like hysterical crap to me."  
  
Piper glared across the table.  
  
"Ah, so it _can_ read. I've always wondered."  
  
MacCready glared right back, hands poised on the table top.  
  
"Yeah, and it can walk too, right outta that door if I've gotta listen to this bull any longer. I'm not risking my neck for this. No way."  
  
"Lucky for you, no-one expected you to. Go count your caps and jerk off or something, this isn-”  
  
“_When you kids have quite finished._” Valentine interrupted sternly.  
  
Deacon looked at them, disappointed.

“N'aww, and I was just about to open my potato chips.” He turned back to Nick. “It's almost like you're expecting them to take this _years long, life-threatening_ operation more seriously than their bruised egos. Imagine that.”  
  
The pair fell silent, Piper flushing red and looking at the floor, MacCready practically foaming at the mouth, pressing his hands into the table and grinding his teeth. Nick called their attention back to Deacon. He sighed and continued, speaking earnestly to MacCready.  
  
“Whether you like it or not, you're already involved. Sitting at this table is enough to get you killed. And you _are_ the best shot we have. We're gonna need you at Bunker Hill, and you need to be in place before the shit hits the fan. We don't have long, the institute is mobilising as we speak, and word has it the Brotherhood is on the way to stomp all over everything – Nate is gonna be smack bang in the middle of this shit show and he's under the impression that you've got his back. If you're gonna turn tail on him, better do it now, save him the disappointment.”  
  
MacCready slammed his hands down, furious.  
  
“Don't you fucking dare call that into question, that's not what I said.”   
  
He paused, balling his fists, breathing in hot bursts through his nostrils, and looked Deacon in the eye.  
  
“I said I'm not risking my neck against the institute for some... fricking synths who might turn out to be as much a part of the problem. I'm not a coward, I'm not running away. There's... there's other things I've gotta be around for, man.”  
  
Piper rolled her eyes and mumbled something, and MacCready's temper snapped; he leapt to his feet, kicking the chair over as he stood, tore the pouch from his belt and flung it at her – it splashed at the edge of the table, spilling open and pouring caps across the floor. Piper recoiled, and Valentine stood fast, reaching out and laying a hand on MacCready's arm. Mac shook him away.  
  
“You think this is the only thing matters to me? You think you're better? You don't know a god-damned thing. I've got someone waiting for me that I _can't_ let down, and if I die out here, then it's gonna be finding what I came for, not standing against the Brotherhood and the Institute for a bunch of fucking robots and an idea.”  
  
“None taken.” Valentine muttered.  
  
“You wanna be a martyr to your cause, go ahead,” he gestured at the door, “but I'm out.”  
  
“Those “fucking robots” are people, asshole,” Piper snarled at him, “and this is so much bigger than that, why can't you see it? If this is the one chance we get of stopping the Institute, it changes everything for the whole Commonwealth. No more missing people, no more paranoid murders, this could change everything.”  
  
MacCready shook his head, tight lipped.  
  
“I can't risk it, you don't understand-”  
  
Deacon raised his hand.  
  
“Hey, I have a question; if you care so much about him, why are you four hundred miles away arguing about it, and not taking that package back yourself?”  
  
MacCready's jaw dropped open, whispering, “How do you even...”  
  
Deacon continued. “Is it because you're in love? It is, isn't it.”  
  
He clasped his hands by his face, laughing.  
  
“Oh, the romance of it all, a young father, far from home, heart broken by tragedy and healed by a 200 year old guy in a jumpsuit an-”  
  
MacCready's fist connected hard with Deacon's jaw, knocking him back on his chair, glasses clattering to the floor - Piper yelled and darted from her chair, and Valentine rushed MacCready, grabbing his shoulder and wrestling his arms back behind him. MacCready strained against him, voice shaking with rage.  
  
“Don't you fucking laugh at me, how do you even know about that? How do you...”  
  
His voice failed him, hot, angry tears in his eyes.  
  
“Feel better now? Or you need to go again? C'mon, I'm told I'm a pretty satisfying punch bag.” Deacon rubbed his jaw, picking up his shades and folding them on the table in front of him, looking at Mac sympathetically. He shook his head.   
  
“You think we let just anyone wander in and out of HQ without knowing what they're about? We know what your _asshole_ looks like when you take a shit. Nothin' personal, but we can't afford to take risks. Now shut up and listen; this is not an exercise in kindness, we're not asking your sympathy. We need your gun, and we need you to take down that courser, or Nate is in a hell of a bind.”  
  
MacCready's shoulders relaxed, and Nick let go of his wrists. He wiped his eyes with the heel of his palm, chest shuddering as he tried to hold himself together. “I can't do it, man, I can't. If I don't come back, Duncan, he's... he's just...”  
  
Deacon nodded.   
  
“Yeah. It's a risk. No point talking around it. But if you do come back, the Commonwealth is one step closer to being safe, and you're one step closer to a home for him. Nate is out there, right now, waiting for us to pick up the slack. You have to decide, right now, and we have to get moving.”  
  
MacCready closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. The bastard was right. DC was a shithole all its own, and the Commonwealth... well, it felt hopeful, even with all the shit.   
  
Deacon pressed him; “We need you on that rooftop, we need you to be focused, and if that's too much to ask, then I hope you said your goodbyes. DC is a long walk, and you'll be setting off right away, I assume.”  
  
MacCready took a deep breath, and nodded.  
  
“Fine. You think I'm doing this for any one of you, you think again.”  
  



End file.
